Writer and reporter Jan Buchholz speaks about what's on her mind. She's looking to engage, inspire and probably enrage her readers.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sunday Night, er Monday Morning Live starring Insomnia

I've been sarcastic and cynical probably since at least junior high. I vaguely remember penning satire for the Wheat Ridge Junior High School paper. Oh, and it just came to me that the summer between my 4th and 5th grade years at Westminster Hills Elementary the neighborhood kids and I staged a talent show. My talent? Writing and performing commercials. One in particular was about dishwashing detergent. I started out by showing my "beautiful" hands, which were painted with watercolor to look old and bruised and generally wretched. Of course I waxed poetic about the fine dishwashing liquid that was so gentle on my hands. The audience booed and cackled in melodramatic tradition. I ended up the shill by saying, "If you think this is bad, just look at the bottle." The detergent bottle had been cut up to look like it was corroded, no doubt by toxic chemicals.The punch line was delivered with grand hysterics, or at least I thought the audience was guffawing with enthusiasm. After all, I am remembering the details some 50 years later.If only my sarcasm could find a lighthearted outlet today. Right now it's all wrapped up in the business of business, especially the business that I labor in -- news publishing -- and the businesses I cover, mostly real estate and transportation.Summer talent shows are no longer the medium. My blog is the real-me medium and at times, I'm told the message is biting.But this is real life for me. Greed, ineptitude, irresponsibility, even cruelty. And no, I am not referring to myself, however flawed I might be. In all sincerity, we don't earn kudos in the newsroom for delivering PR banter. Sometimes informative enterprise stories even are hard to sell.Still, I do think there is some kind of news form that could fall between the two extremes. What if I wrote about inspiring businesses and people who punctuate their careers with creativity and good will. Would anyone give a rip? More importantly, would anyone pay for it?I know you're thinking, "Well maybe, but probably not."But if money didn't matter (and all I care about is paying the basic bills), I would report about creative businesses throughout the Southwest....everything from boutique women's apparel to social media marketing firms to art galleries to independent fashion designers to neuro-studies. Does anyone care about this stuff? Or am I just a child of the Sixties locked into a post 2000 recession world? Got a map? I need directions.